Energy and medical experts are becoming more and more concerned in recent years because of indoor air pollution and undesirable conditions which are becoming prevalent as a result of efforts to conserve energy. As heating costs soar, home owners rush to seal their homes with additional insulation and weatherproofing in order to seal out the cold. Such action, however, at the same time seals in harmful pollutants and creates harmful conditions in the form of an inadequate good air supply. Since most people spend most of their time indoors, such harmful conditions are justifiably of much concern.
Older homes leak sufficient air so that a complete air change takes place every one to one and one-half hours. Builders today, however, have reduced air changes due to leakage in the new homes which they build to about one air change every ten (10) hours. Such limited air entrance, coupled with increased consumption and removal of air by various devices within the home, causes a negative pressure to be built up within relatively new and air-tight homes, along with air pollutants which emanate from various products in the home interior, such as particle board which disseminates formaldehyde fumes. Another pollutant given off by rocks, soil and common building materials and found in home interiors is radon, an odorless radioactive gas which has been implicated as a cause of cancer.
Negative pressure conditions within such an air-tight home are particularly attributable to various devices commonly utilized within the home and which either consume oxygen or expel air to the exterior. Examples of the former are fireplaces, wooden stoves and gas or oil-fired water heaters, stoves and clothes dryers. Examples of the latter are kitchen, attic and bathroom ventilation or exhaust fans which actually reduce the overall supply of air within the house. The latter reduces the supply of oxygen, which in turn results in the formation of deadly carbon monoxide by fireplaces and other oxygen consuming devices, which in recent years has caused many accidental deaths.
In addition to the above, many such air-tight homes, particularly those heated by electricity, have high humidity problems which indicates an inadequate supply of fresh air in the interior.
All of the above evidences a need for a controllable supply of fresh outdoor air upon demand. Various air-conditioning equipment has heretofore been provided for introducing air from the exterior into the interior of a building but all of such are necessarily relatively large and unsightly, are necessarily mounted on the exterior or interior of the walls, and require substantial piping to convey the air. United States Pat. No. 2,787,946; No. 4,072,187; No. 2,820,880; No. 2,882,383; and No. 3,165,625 disclose devices which exemplify efforts which may be relevant but are not directed specifically at these conditions. I have provided a very simple, attractive and inexpensive solution for these problems.